Prickly Situations
by silentpixiee
Summary: When little Haley has a mishap, big brothers Sam and Dean are never far away. Part of the Because We're Winchesters verse.


**A/N: **Hey all!! So, while watching an episode of Untold Stories of the ER, a sudden idea popped in my head :o)...I decided to be cool and try to write a one shot! This is what I got. Hope ya'll like it :o) In this fic, Dean is 15, Sam is 11, and Haley is 7.

**Warning: **I portrayed John as a big jerk LOL. So if you're a papa Winchester fan, sorry...

* * *

"Sammy, remember what I told you son. Don't leave the car for any reason and don't let your sister out either, okay?" John instructed. He and Dean were on the trail of a chupacabra that had been terrorizing a nearby small town.

"I know dad," Sam sighed adjusting the shotgun in his grasp.

John nodded. "Dean and I will have our walkies on but don't call us unless it's an emergency. I don't want the chupacabra finding us before we find it," he said sternly.

"Yes sir."

"Alright, come on Dean, let's get out there and find this thing," John said, opening the driver door and scooting out of the car.

"Sammy, set your walkie to channel 3, call me if you need to, okay?" Dean said quietly so his dad wouldn't hear.

"Kay Dean. Be careful." Sam smiled.

"Take care of the squirt. We'll be back as soon as we can. You got enough rounds in that thing?" Dean motioned towards the shotgun sitting on Sam's lap.

"Yeah, I got the holy water here too, just in case," Sam informed, lifting the flask up.

"Good man. I'll see ya in a bit Sammy." Dean gave his little sleeping sister a tender gaze and winked at Sam before opening his door and scooting out, locking it and closing it behind him.

"Ready Dad?" he asked, taking one more second to glance back at the car before walking beside John.

John sighed. "Dean, you gotta stop doing that; coddling them like little babies. Sam's gotta learn to be a man, he's gotta start contributing to the hunts now and Haley's gotta learn to take care of things on her own, we won't always be there," John scolded lightly.

Dean scoffed. "You're kidding right? Sam is _eleven; _how the hell is he supposed to be a man at eleven? And Haley's seven, what the hell do you want her to do? Cook us meals or something?" he asked, clearly agitated by his fathers words.

"You took on some responsibility when you were—"

Dean stopped suddenly and glared at his father. "I took on the responsibility because I was the oldest and because I had no choice Dad. You weren't exactly father of the year ya know. You paid more attention to your buddies, Jim, Jack, and Jose, than your kids, so yea, I took on the responsibility. But I will be damned if Sam and Haley have to go through the same crap I did," he growled.

John was about to speak but decided to drop it for now. He couldn't let this interfere with the hunt; bad things happen when you're not paying attention and worrying about other things.

"We'll finish this conversation later Dean. Let's head out and find this thing. I want it dead _tonight!_" John said sternly.

"Yeah, whatever," Dean muttered. Talking to his dad was like talking to a brick wall. Nothing got in; and those who tried ended up with a headache.

"If you spot it—"

"I know how to hunt dad. I can hold my own, thanks," Dean muttered walking down a small path to his left. "I'll radio you if I get it," he called over his shoulder.

John sighed. He waited a few minutes until he couldn't see Dean's form in the dark night before making his own way down the opposite path.

SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

Sam sat in the backseat reading one of Dean's comic books. Haley was asleep, her small, pigtailed head lying on his lap. So far everything was quiet, no sounds could be heard outside aside from the occasional passing car from the highway. He managed to read through a few more pages of the comic before Haley started to stir.

"Sammy," she muttered sleepily.

"Yeah Hay," Sam asked, putting the comic down beside him.

"Where're we?"

"In the car." He smiled. "Dad and Dean are out looking for the monster," he explained.

Haley made an 'o' face, her little head nodding up and down. "I'm hungry," she whined, softly.

Sam reached down in the space between the front and backseat and pulled up her little purple princess bag. "Here, Dean packed you some fruit snacks. Eat these for now and I'm sure Dad'll take us for some real food when we get back to the motel," he said, unzipping the bag and pulling out a packet of Scooby-doo fruit snacks.

Haley sat up and scooted back until her back was against Sam's side, "Read to me, " she said cheerfully.

Sam chuckled. "Yea, okay," he said, starting the comic all the way from the beginning.

SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

The Arizona desert night was hot; the dark sky doing nothing to cool things down. Dean wiped his sweaty forehead off with the back of his hand before trudging on forward. He wanted to find this damn chupacabra already so that he could get back to his siblings. He didn't care what his dad said; Haley and Sam were not ready to grow up like the man wanted them to and if he could help it, they wouldn't.

SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

John walked through the rough, uneven ground making his way quietly towards a group of small caves. He sighed; his head wasn't really in the hunt.

He knew what he was doing was wrong. Mary would have killed him if she were here right now. But he had no choice; not if he wanted his family to survive. Dean didn't—_couldn't_— understand why he did what he did, but he'd have to deal with it. He was the father after all. He was only doing what was best for his family.

_Or what's best for you. _His conscience spoke cruelly.

SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

"Sammy, I hafta go to the potty," Haley said, squirming around in her seat.

Sam put the comic down and stared at his little sister. "Are you serious? Can't you hold it till we get back to the room?" he asked hopeful. He was under strict orders to not leave the car. If he got out and let Haley out, his dad would have their butts on a platter.

Haley squirmed restlessly in her seat again and shook her head vehemently. "No, no Sammy, I hafta go really, really, really, _really, _bad."

Sam sighed. Damn it all to hell. "Hay—"

"I'm gonna pee in my pants," she said nervously.

Sam looked out the window into the dark night. There was no one around for miles, well, no one they could _see _anyway. Quickly scanning the area around them once more, he scooted to the front and pulled his body up and over the bench seat and reached for the shotgun.

"Okay fine, I'm gonna get out and open your door okay? We're gonna go out, you pee, and then we get back in the car, got it?" he said in the sternest voice he could muster up.

Haley nodded. "Hurry, hurry, I hafta go!" she squeaked.

Sam rolled his eyes and unlocked the driver side door, quickly making his way out and opening the back door.

"Come on, I see a big rock you can pee behind," he said, leading his little sister to the boulder a few feet away.

"Go, I'll stand guard okay?" he said, giving her a soft pat on the back.

Haley waddled her way around the boulder and unbuttoned her shorts, getting ready to do her business when she suddenly stepped on a rock and unbalanced herself.

"Sammy!" she yelled, falling sideways and into a small ditch behind her.

Sam looked back startled. "Haley?"

Haley's screams pierced the otherwise silent night; her cries making Sam cringe.

"Haley, you okay?" He ran to the edge of the ditch and looked down. His eyes widened in horror as he took notice of where his little sister had landed. _"Oh god."_

"Sa…mm…Sam—my," Haley cried, her little form quivering.

"It's okay Hay. I'm gonna get you out okay. It's okay, just don't move okay," he said calmly as he tried to calm her down.

Haley had fallen in a large patch of cacti.

"Dean, Dean help me, " she wailed, her little arms swinging up as she tried to push herself up and away from the pain, only to make it worse.

"No! Haley no, don't move, just stay still okay, I'll get you out little sister, its okay," Sam yelled down. How he was gonna manage that was beyond him. If he went in, he'd probably end up the same.

"Sa—mmy…" she cried out painfully. There were thousands of little thorns embedded into her small body and any movement she made was pure agony.

"I know, I know, I'm coming Hay," Sam assured. He took a few careful steps towards the edge only to feel the dirt below his feet give way. _Shit. _He was gonna have to call Dean.

"Haley, I'm gonna call Dean okay, just stop moving. I promise we'll get you out," he said, swallowing the lump in his throat. Haley's painful sobs hurt _him _more than they were hurting her probably.

Sam quickly ran the few feet to the car and pulled the door open to get the walkie then ran back to where Haley was.

"Dean, Dean, can you hear me?" Sam yelled into the small walkie.

SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

Dean had given up and had started walking back towards his dad's side. If there was a chupacabra around here, it wasn't on his side.

"_Dean, Dean, can you hear me?" _Sam's panicked voice came through the radio attached to his hip.

He quickly pulled it off of its clip and brought it to his mouth. "Sam, yeah. What's wrong?" he asked, a cold feeling of dread already building in his stomach.

"_Dean, Haley fell and she's crying and I can't, Dean I can't get her out," _Sam cried through the walkie.

Dean had already started running when the words 'Hay' and 'fell' left the kids mouth.

"I'll be right there Sammy," he radioed back.

SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

"Daddy!" Haley sobbed helplessly.

"Haley stop, please, stop moving, you'll only make it worse. Dean's coming and he's gonna help me get you out okay," Sam yelled loudly, trying to be heard over her high pitched screams.

Sam sighed, this was _so_ bad. "Hay, come on, look up at me," Sam called down, putting the shot gun down and carefully taking a seat on the dirt.

Haley coughed, choking on her saliva as she cried. She was in too much pain and just wanted out.

Sam went to slide down when a noise to his left caught his attention. He quickly stood up, shotgun in hand and scanned the area.

Dean came running through the darkness and quickly spotted Sam.

"Sam."

"Dean, she fell. She needed to go to the bathroom and she fell into the ditch and she's really, really hurt and I can't get her out," Sam scrambled out quickly.

"Sammy, hey, calm down. It's okay I'll get her ou—oh crap!" Dean came to a sudden standstill as he saw exactly _where _his little sister had fallen.

"I'm sorry. I know Dad sai—"

"Sam, it's okay. You did good, it's okay, Ill get her out," Dean said, trying to calm his and his little brother down.

"Deeeeeeeeaaaaaaannnnn" Haley screamed painfully. "Dean help me, it hurts, it hurts," she wailed.

"Hay, it's alright little sister, I'm coming down okay just stay still for me," Dean ordered softly. "You're okay. Big brother's here, I'll get you out," he assured.

Haley's sobs calmed a little as she saw both her brothers above her. She knew they'd get her out no matter what the mean plant did to them.

"Sammy, call dad, tell him to come back to the car," Dean instructed, handing Sam the walkie.

"Okay."

Dean slid carefully down the small embankment, holding himself on the ledge as his feet hit the bottom. He heard a few snaps as his boots landed heavily on the plants below.

"Hay, I'm coming towards you ok. You're gonna be fine," he said, soothingly.

A few more steps and a few thorns of his own, he was beside his tearful little sister. "Hey peanut, what'd you go and get yourself into, huh?" he asked with a small smile.

"It…it hur…hurts De..ean," she hiccupped.

"I know baby, but you'll be okay. I'm gonna get you out of here and make the pain go away okay," he assured, reaching his hand over and smoothing out her wet cheek.

"Pro…promise."

"Yeah, I promise," he nodded. "Hay, listen to me okay. I'm gonna put my arm under your neck and this one here…" he lifted up his right arm, "under your knees and I'm gonna lift you up okay?" he explained carefully.

Haley nodded and let out a pitiful sob as the thorns dug in deeper.

"Hey, relax, relax Hay," he cooed.

"S'it gon..na hurt?"

Dean sighed. "A little but you're super tough so you'll be okay," he said, wiping her tears away.

Haley gave him a watery smile. "Kay Dean."

"Sammy!"

"Yeah Dean?" Sam called back, his face suddenly appearing above him.

"I'm bringing her up, get the car ready," Dean instructed.

Sam nodded and quickly disappeared.

"Okay baby, on three okay?"

"Kay," she whispered.

Dean reached one arm under Haley's small head and winced as he felt the pricks of the thorns on his naked arm but ignored the pain. Haley was in a lot more pain then he was at the moment.

Haley screamed, her little body quivering as the pain intensified when Dean moved her.

"I got ya, I got ya baby, just relax," he cooed.

Once Haley was cradled in his thorn covered arms, he stood up and carefully carried her up the embankment.

"Owies, Dean, I have lot's of owies," she cried, wailing a bit in his arms.

"We'll fix it, just stop moving or you'll make it worse peanut. We're almost out," he said a bit breathlessly.

Dean cleared the edge of the embankment and was now standing on flat land. Sam came running towards him.

"Dads on his way," he said, his voice wavering. Sam was scared shitless and feeling the guilt.

"Good, thanks Sammy, come on, lets get her in the car," he said, making his way to the Impala, his steps careful as to not jar her body anymore.

"Dean! What the hell happened?" John's voice boomed in the night.

Dean turned towards his dads voice and continued to walk. "She fell into some cacti. We gotta get her to the hospital dad," he said hastily.

"What do you mean she fell? Sam, didn't I give you orders to stay in the car? What where you thinking—"

"Dad, lay off! Haley had to go to the bathroom. It was an accident!" Dean yelled, placing his little sister in the back seat. "We need to go _now _dad, she's gotta have about a thousand of those things on her," he informed.

John shook his head. "No hospital, we'll take care of it ourselves. Let's head to the motel," he said, stalking past Sam and Dean.

"No, Dad, we can't do it ourselves. She needs numbing medication or something. Those things are the size of freaking needles!" Dean argued. Sometimes he just didn't get the man.

"Enough Dean. I know how to take care of my kid. Let's go," he yelled briskly.

Dean and Sam shared an angered look and followed their father into the car. This was so gonna be bad.

SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

"No, no, daddy stop, please….owie," Haley yelled, little coughs racking her shaking body.

"Haley stay still, damn it!" John yelled as he fumbled with the tweezers in his hand. "Dean, hold her down, he ordered.

Dean glared at his dad. "She needs a hospital. She needs meds dad," he yelled.

"Dea—"

"I swear to everything holy and unholy dad, if you don't take her to the damn hospital right now I'm gonna take the damn car and drive her myself!" he yelled angrily. His dad was pushing it; it's one thing to neglect them by leaving them for days at a time, but it was whole other thing when the man ignored his children's pain.

Sam gasped, shocked at the words that had left Dean's mouth. Dean never talked to dad like that.

"Deeeeaaaaaaaannnn," Haley cried, trying to curl into her big brother.

John sighed, put the tweezers down, and stood up. He paced the room like a caged animal, angry, and feeling guilty as hell.

"Let's go," he said, stomping out of the room.

"Sammy, grab her a change of clothes," Dean asked, lifting his little sister in his arms again.

Sam nodded and picked out her pajamas. "This okay?" he asked holding them up.

"Yeah, yeah, that's good. Let's go."

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"I need some help here!" John yelled jogging into the ER with Dean and Sam on his trail.

"What's the—Oh dear." An older looking nurse gasped. "Oh poor little thing. Right this way sir," she said, leading them into a curtained cubical. "I'll go get you a doctor," she said, walking away quickly.

The nearest hospital was forty-five minutes away from the Podunk town they were staying at. Forty-five minutes of pure agony for Haley.

Her sobs had subsided, only little sniffles here and there. She was a Winchester through and through.

"Evening, I'm Dr. Jefferson, what can I help you with?" A tall man asked, walking into the room.

"My little sister, she fell into a pile of cacti," Dean said, quickly taking over John's roll.

"Uh oh, let's take a look shall we." he said, walking over to the bed Haley was on. "Hey there sweetie, I'm just gonna take a quick look at ya okay?" he said sweetly.

Haley sought Sam and Dean out, shrinking away from the doctor.

"Hay, it's okay," Sam said, walking up and standing beside her.

"Come on peanut; let the good Doc help you okay? You're fine, we're here," Dean added, appearing beside Sam.

The doctor nodded his thanks. "Haley, how old are you?" he asked, lifting her arm up.

Haley screamed. "Owie, owie!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. It's alright. We'll get those out alright." He shushed softly.

"Mr. uh—"

"Carter. John Carter," John said.

"Mr. Carter, in order to remove these thorns, I'm going to have to put your daughter under local anesthetic—"

"No. Absolutely not," John said, his head shaking side to side.

"Sir—"

"No, you do what you have to do, but you don't put her under!" John insisted.

"Dad! What the hell?" Dean intervened. "She needs the meds, you saw how she reacts to the slightest touch!!" he yelled.

"I said no! You find another way doc. I won't risk—I won't have her put under," he insisted.

Dr. Jefferson nodded and excused himself. "Alright, I'm going to go get a few things, I'll be right back."

"Dad, what the hell is this about? She's not a soldier! She's seven years old and she's in _pain!"_ Dean spat.

"No Dean."

"Why the hell not?" Dean spat back.

John sighed."When she was a baby, she got sick, they had to put her under to run a few tests; there were some complications. I'm _not _risking it again. It'll hurt, I get that, but she's tough," John explained quietly.

Sam and Dean stared at the man before them, only able to feel slightly bad for him.

Just then Dr. Jefferson entered the room.

"Okay, this is Nurse Nicole, she's going to help me," Dr. Jefferson said, introducing the young woman.

"What I'm going to do is try to pluck them out, see if I can pluck a few at a time," he explained, pulling out a pair of sterilized tweezers.

Dean and Sam both winced and stood beside Haley.

"One of you might want to stay on this side in case I need you to hold her down," he said mournfully.

Dean growled deep in his throat. He had forced his father to the hospital only to end up hurting her the same way.

"Owie, don't touch my owies," Haley cried softly.

"Sweetie, I'm going to fix the owies, okay?" he said, giving her a genuine smile.

Haley looked at the man wearily but allowed the man to move in.

Dr. Jefferson took in a deep breath along with Sam, Dean, and John. He grasped a few of the thorns and pulled up quickly. Haley screamed, her small body shaking from the force. She shook and coughed as the tears came spilling like a broken dam.

"Hay, Haley, calm down, come on little sister, its okay," Sam whispered in her ear. "You're doing good, you're doing really good," he added.

The doctor looked up. "Sir, I really must insist—"

"No," John stated bluntly.

The doctor nodded and continued with the process, each pull breaking everyone in the rooms heart just a little bit more.

"N…no…owie, De…de…pro…promised…." Haley choked out through her sobs.

Dean flinched. He had never broken a promise to either of his siblings and he wasn't about to start now.

"Stop," he said.

Dr. Jefferson looked up. "I'm sorry."

"Dean?" John looked at his oldest in confusion.

"She's not going through this anymore. There has to be another way, you're not pulling anymore of those things out with freaking tweezers," He said matter of fact.

"Now wait just a damn minute. As I recall, I'm the father here," John argued, his eyes glaring holes into his oldest.

"She's in pain dad. I get that you're scared for her, but she can't take this anymore." _I can't take this anymore._

John sighed. "Fine, doc, anything else you can do besides putting her under?"

The doctor shook his head. It was really unusual for someone to deny pain meds; he was out of ideas. "I'm sorry but I—"

"Doctor I think I might know something we can do," Nurse Nicole spoke up shyly.

All three Winchesters looked up at her expectantly.

"What is it?" Dr. Jefferson asked, interested.

Nurse Nicole walked out of the room and returned with a grocery bag.

"I went shopping on my break."

"How's that gonna help my little sister?" Sam asked confused.

Nurse Nicole smiled. "I picked up a hair wax kit. I'm not sure if it's ever been used for this but it could work; it's the same idea," she shrugged, pulling the kit out.

Dr. Jefferson took the wax from the nurse and read the ingredients, "It could work," he thought out loud.

"Try it then. Don't just stand there, try it," Sam urged.

"How does this work Nicole?" The doctor. asked.

She smiled. "I have to heat up the wax. I'll be right back," she said taking the wax back to the lounge.

"Hear that Hay, you're gonna be fine. They're gonna make the owies all better," Dean soothed his little sister.

"Kay Dean."

SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

"Okay, sweetie, I'm going to spread this on your skin okay? It's going to be a little hot, but I promise it'll be fast," Dr. Jefferson assured. He glanced up at Sam and Dean, his helpers and nodded his head, a slight go ahead.

Dean and Sam both held each of Haley's hands and leaned in.

"Hay, you wanna get some ice cream after this?" Dean asked, his forehead resting on her temple.

Haley nodded. "Mmhmm."

Dr. Jefferson mentally counted to three and pulled the strip from Haley's body. Haley yelped in pain and wriggled on the bed.

The doctor flipped the strip over and grinned. "It worked," he said happily, showing the occupants in the room the now thorn covered waxing strip.

"Hay, you see that! The thorns are coming out," Sam said excitedly.

Haley nodded, her tearful eyes sparkling under the florescent lights. "They're mean flowers," she muttered.

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, they're mean, aren't they."

"You can beat them up, right Dean?" she asked tentatively.

Another laugh. "Of course I can peanut. I can beat anyone and anything up," he assured, as the doctor prepared another area.

SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

"Well, you're all done Haley. You were such a good patient." Dr. Jefferson said enthusiastically.

Haley smiled shyly, her head now resting on Dean's chest.

Dr. Jefferson turned to John. "I'm just going to write her a prescription for some itch medication and some children's Motrin. She should be just fine though," the doctor informed.

John extended his hand. "Thanks doc."

"My pleasure Mr. Carter. I'll be right back," he said exiting the room.

"You ready to head out squirt?" John asked his now exhausted little girl.

"Yeah daddy," she nodded, her eyes starting to blink sluggishly.

"Hey, thought you wanted some ice cream?" Dean said, giving her a gentle shake.

"Can I have chocolate chip?" she asked sleepily. Her small body curling up, fitting perfectly in her older brothers lap.

"Anything you want peanut, anything you want," Dean whispered, letting sleep finally claim her.

Sam climbed up on the bed beside Dean careful not to disturb her. "Is she gonna be okay, Dean?" he asked quietly. He was still feeling guilty for not being able to help her back there when she was screaming.

Dean nodded. "She'll be fine Sammy," he assured, noticing his brothers sad face. "Hey, you did good kid," he shoved his brother's shoulder a bit.

Sam shied away. "Thanks Dean."

John walked up to the bed, his fingers curled around the bed railing. He knew his eldest was mad at him; he could tell by those occasional glares he got.

"You did good Sammy." he spoke quietly so he wouldn't wake up his little girl. "You both did good."

Dean nodded in his father's direction, thankful that the man wasn't raising hell for his little brother.

Sammy beamed at getting some praise from his father. "Thanks dad."

John nodded.

"Mr. Carter." Dr. Jefferson said stepping into the room. "Here is a prescription for children's Motrin. She might be fine, but I'd like you to pick some of that up in case a fever decides to creep up." He explained. "And this here is a prescription for a lotion I'd like you to apply twice a day for the next week. She'll be experiencing some discomfort from the skin irritation." he said, handing John the two prescription sheets.

"Thank again doctor. I appreciate your help." John smiled.

Dr. Jefferson nodded and glanced over at the three Winchester kids. "Ya'll take care and make sure that little one avoids anymore cacti." he chuckled.

Dean smiled, "We'll make sure she does. Thanks doc."

The doctor left the room leaving the Winchesters on their own.

"You ready to head out?" John sighed, stuffing the prescriptions into his pocket.

Dean nodded. He knew that no matter how worried his dad was about his sister's situation at the moment; the man was itching to get back to the hunt. Which was fine with him; Dean had it covered. When it came to his siblings, he _always _had it covered.

So, this is my first one shot. What did ya'll think? :o) Feedback is welcomed.


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